Shoe-shaping apparatus.



M. BROOK.

SHOE SHAPING APPARATUS. APPI ICATION FILED MAR- 9, 19M. RENEWED OCT. 30, l9l5- 1,1 89, 1 90. Patentd June 27, 1916.

UNITED s'rATiis 1 P ATENT onricn.

mn'ra'mns BROOK, orBos'roN, mnssncn nsn'rrs, AssIeNon 'ro UNITED snon MACHINERY COMPANY, or PA'rEnsoN, NEW massage CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

1,189,190. Specification of SHOE-SHAPING APPARATUS.

Letters Patent. I Patented June 27, 1916.

Application filed March 9,1914, Serial No. 823,572. ReneWecI'October 30, 1915. Serial No. 58,933;

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MATTHIAS Brook, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Masachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Shoe-Shaping Apparatus, of which the following description, 1n connection with the" accompanyingdrawlngs, 1s a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts 1n the several figures. I I

This invention relates to shoe shaping apparatus and particularly to apparatus for shaping or molding shoe upper material into lasted position, especially into lasted relation to the feather and lip of welt shoe innersoles.

It is important to produce an angular edge wheretheupper is bent inwardly over the extreme edge of the innersole, and it is also important in welt shoes to mold the upper intothe angle between the feather and 11p of'the innersole in order that the upper and welt maybe sewed close to the'base of the lip and thereby produce a tight or close welt crease in the shoe as distinguished from a broad or open welt crease which-is produced when the sewingis high above the base of the lip and is unsightly and more readily admits moisture than does a close crease. Lasting machinery now available "is" fairly effective in forcing the upper stock into the desired shape but upper material nowlargely in use, especially in -the manufacture of mens shoes is diflicult to maintain in the shape given to it by the lasting mechanism during the interval between." the action of the lasting devices thereon and the welt sewing operation. Consequently. many shoes reach the weltsewing machine .wit the u per bridged from the. feather to the lip o the innersole across the angle-and with the upper rounded over the edge of the innersole. o

The improvements constituting the pres; ent invention eliminate or reduce the above pearance andmoisture-excludingquality of the shoes upon which they are used.

Theseveral features of the invention including certain details of construction and combinations of parts will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings and will then be pointed out in'the'icialms.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevat on of a lasting machine built in substant1al accordance with United States Letters Patent No. 1,018, 17 7 granted on my appllcation February 27, 1912. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the toe lasting mecha- (IIISIII' of that machine equipped with the present improvements. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the auxiliary shaping means, showing in sectiona shoe presented against it.

The machine comprises a frame upon which are mounted a toe rest 2 and a heel post 3 which, with the heel band 4 of the heel lasting mechanism, support and-hold the shoe in position for the operation of the endembracing wipers. The toe lasting mechanism is mounted upon a vertically movable head the stem 6 of which is guided inthe frame and is connected with a doubleended treadle lever 8 by which the toe em bracing wipers 10 may be caused to rub upwardly along the side faces of thetoe of the last to mold the upper tothose faces and then, after having reached and been closed in over the margin of the shoe bottom, said wipers may be depressed by. foot pressure upon the right hand end of'the treadle to compress the upper materials upon the feather of-the innersole. A hand lever 9 may be associated with the treadle 8 for use in applying heavy stock" compressing force to the wipers. The wipers are caused to embrace thetoe portion' of. the last by advancing and'closing movements imparted to them throughthe-halid lever 1231111 usual connections and by the same means are wipers occupy retracted positions under and o "in sliding contact with this plate and are pnej'ected out from under this plate for engaging and performing their work upon the shoe, being returned under the plate again before-the'shoe is taken out of the machine and remaining under the plate until again than has been done with the hammer.

needed. Upon the cover plate is clamped a holder 16, as by screws 17, which maintain it in intimate contact with the cover plate. The horizontal member of this holder; is bored longitudinally to form an aperture in which is received an electrical heating unit 18 from which heat is conducted through the holder to the cover plate and to the wipers while the latter are in the retracted position occupied by them between their operations upon successive shoes. The holder 16 has on that end of its horizontal member which extends toward the operator a depending member. 19 provided with a shoe rubbing face which includes an angular edge shaped to crease the upper of, a lasted shoe into the angle between the feather and the lip of a welt innersole. In the preferred construction this shaping edge is formed at the extreme right hand portion'of the end face of the verticalmember 19, as indicated at 20, and there may advantageously be a corresponding shaping edge or face at the left hand side of said member 19. Preferably there is also formed on the end face of said member a rib'or projection 22 parallel with the shaping edge 20 and spaced therefrom a distance approximating the width of the feather of a welt shoe innersole.

In the use of the shaping device 20, 22 a shoe coming from the lasting machine is presented edgewise, as in Fig. 3, and pressed against the angular edge contour in away to cause said edge to mold the upper ma terials into the angle between the lip and feather of-theinnersole. The shoe may ad vantageously be so held that the side face. of the toe will be e gaged by the rib 22 and the upper materia overlying the feather will be pressed'against the plain face intervening between the ribs 20, 22. The shoe is then moved up and down and suitably turned to present the entire margin of the toe to the shaping faces which mold the upper into the desired angular edge of the shoe bottom and into the angle between the feather and lip of the innersole. It has been the custom for machine operators to employ a broad-faced hammer for beating the upper against the side face of the last around the edge of the toe and rubbing it,

the shoe being held in one hand and,the'

hammer in the other for such. treatment. Equipment of machines with the described device embodying this invention renders unnecessary the use of this hammer and en ables the operator to perfect the shape of the toe much quicker and more effectively use of heat in the shaping device and in the wipers greatly increases the effectiveness of their action upon the upper material, and it has been found in practice that by treating difiicult upper materials as above out- The 10 which are used to rub up the sides of the toe and then inwardly over the margin of the shoe bottom can not be equipped with sharply defined angular edges, corresponding with the angular shaping edge 20, at the junction of their lower faces with theiract ing edges because of the danger of scarring the finished surface of the upper material. The shaping edge or rib 20 can, without any danger of injury to the shoe stock, be provided Wltllwfi, well-defined angular edge which will mold the upper materials snugly into the angle between the feather and the lip of the innersole, as in Fig: ,3, when the shoe is rubbed up and down lengthwise of said edge 20. The presence of a suitable degree of heat enables the comparatively narrow portion of the upper touched at any one instant by the faces 20, 22 to be softened and molded effectively by said shaping faces. The lateral edge faces of the member 19 are preferably plane and adapted to compress the upstanding upper materials against the outer face of the lip of the innersole. If the toe of the shoe has been bound in lasted position by a wire, stock shaping faces engaging the wire serve by rubbing contact with the wire to embed the wire into the upper materials and thereby reduce liability of the upper slipping under the wlre.

The presence of heat in the wipers contributes to the efficiency of the shaping device 20, 22. in two ways: in that it enables the wipers more smoothly and efi'ectively to iron the upper materials into lasted position and inthat the heat softens the upper leather'and renders it more responsive to the shaping action of the device 20, 22.

It will be noted that the member 19 depends from the horizontal member 20 for a considerable distance, the lower portion constituting a projection exposed to radiation on all sides and therefore keeping at a lower temperature than the upper portion. Thisis an advantage because some leathers vwill stand advantageously a temperature above what would be injurious to other leathers and this construction provides shaping means having portions maintained at substantially difierent temperatures so that the shaping means can, without regulatlon of temperature, be used upon upper materials requiring different degrees of heat. It is important to avoid overheating the shaplng devices because otherwise an operator is liable to damage a shoe without realizing that he has done so. Means is therefore provided for automatically controlling the electric current for the heating unit. In doing this, advantage has been taken of the fact that the time during which the toe lasting mechanism is in use on each shoe is reasonably constantwhile the intervals between the use of such mechanism are more or less variable, especially because they include the intervals during which an operator may leave the machine as, for example, for replacing a rack of lasted shoes with a rack of shoes which are to be lasted. As herein shown the current controller is connected with the lasting mechanism to cause the heating to occur while the lasting head is upraisedand the wipers are molding the upper up the sides of the last and wiping or compressing it into lasted position'upon the shoe bottom, the current'being shut ofi again when the head is lowered to shoe receiving position and normally remaining shut off until the head is again raised. For this purpose the stem 6 of the vertically movable toe lasting head carries a controller or circuit closer 30 which when the head is raised engages the two terminals 32 to complete the circuit. When the toe ,lasting head is lowered the closer 30 is withdrawn and the current discontinued. The heating unlt 18 of such size and the conductivity of the parts between the heating units and the wipers is such that the wiper s are maintained in properly heated condition by this intermittent applications of heat, as is also the auxiliary shaping device 19. It is desirable that the wipers and shaping device be initially heated before the operation on the first shoe begins as, for example, in the morning and after the noon hour, and therefore a prop 26 is pivotally attached to the frame where it can be turned up into position to uphold the lasting head with the circuit closer engaging the terminals 32. The prop will be withdrawn when the operator begins using the machine.

Having explained the nature of this invention and described a preferred construction embodying the same, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. Shoe shaping apparatus comprising a holder having an aperture, an electrical heating unit fitted into the aperture, and a shoe rubbing face formed on the holder and including an angular edge shaped to crease the upper of a lasted welt shoe sharply into the angle between the feather and lip of'the innersole,

2. Shoe shaping apparatus comprising a holder having a horizontal member formed for attachment to a support and provided with a longitudinal aperture, a vertical member having an end face provided with a rib shaped and arranged to crease the upper of a lasted welt shoe sharply into the angle heating unit fitted into the aperture, a toe lasting head having a wiper cover plate to which the holder is attached, toe, lasting Wipers located under the cover plate, shoe supporting means, and means for moving the wipers from position to be heated under the cover plate into position to shape the edge of the upper into'the angle between the feather and lip of a welt shoe innersole.

4. Shoe shaping apparatus comprising a holder having an aperture, an electrical heating unit fitted into the aperture, a toe lasting head having a wiper cover plate to which the holder is attached, toe lasting wipers located under the cover plate, shoe supporting means, and means for moving the wipers .from position to be heated under the cover plate into position to shape. the edge-of the upper into the angle between the feather and lip of a welt shoe innersole, said holder having an endface provided with a shoe rubbing rib heated from said unit and shaped for additionally creasing into said angle the upper materials of a.

shoe presented thereto after being preliminarily shaped by the wipers.

5. Shoe shaping apparatus comprising depending member, the exposed arrangement of the lower .portion of said member maintaining the shaping face at a temperature suitable for treatment of shoe stocks which would be injured by contact with the portion of said member which is immediately adjacent to the holder.

6. Shoe shaping 1 means compr1singa portion to which heat is applied and a. portion projecting angularly therefrom and having a shoe shaping face extending away from immediate proximity to the portion to which heat is applied, the more remote portion of the shaping face being thereby maintained at a temperature suitable for advantageous treatment of shoe stocks which would beinjured by presentation to the part of the shaping face which islocated in immediate proxlmity to the portion which is heated.

7 Shoe shaping apparatus comprising toe embracing wipers, means for operating the wipers for wiping the upper up the side faces of the toe portion of the last and over the feather and against the lip of a welt shoe innersole, said wipers having acting edges which are blunt at their lower extremities, and auxiliary shaping means having an angular shaping edge for sharply creasing the overwiped upper materials into the angle between the feather and the lip of the innersole.

8. Shoe shaping apparatus comprising toe embracing wipers, means for operating the wipers to work the upper materials up the sides of the toe and into lasted position over the feather and against the lip of a welt shoe innersole, said wipers having acting edges which are blunt at their lower extremities, auxiliary shaping means having an angular shaping edge forsharply creasing the overwiped upper materials into the angle between the lip and the feather of the innersole, and means for heating the wipers and thereby causing them to soften the stock which the shaping means is to vcrease into said angle.

9. Shoe shaping apparatus comprising toe embracing wipers, means for operating the wipers to Work the upper materials up the sides of the toe and into lasted position over the feather and against the lip of a welt shoe innersole, said wipers having acting edges which are blunt at their lower extremities, auxiliary shaping means having an angular shaping edge for sharply creasing the overwiped upper materials into the angle between the lip and the feather of the innersole, means for heating the wipers and thereby causing them to soften the stock which the shaping means is to crease into said angle, a controller for the heating means, and connections between said controller and the wiper operating means for controlling .the heat by the operation of the Wipers.

10. Shoe shaping apparatus comprising toe embracing wipers, means for heating the wipers, means for operating the Wipers, a controller for the heating means, and connections between said controller and the wiper operating means.

11. Shoe shaping apparatus comprising toe embracing wipers, means for heating the wipers, Wiper operating means including means for elevating the wipers to position for gathering the upper over the shoe bottom, a controller for the heating means, and connections between said controller and the operating means by which the heat is turned on when the wipers are elevated and remains on while the wipers are elevated and is shut 01f when the wipers are lowered.

12. Shoe shaping apparatus comprising toe embracing Wipers, means for heating the wipers, means for operating the wipers, a controller for the heating means, and connections between said controller and the wiper operating means by which the heat is shut 015? when the wipers occupy an inoperative position to which they move automatically in the normal operation of the machine, and means for maintaining the wipers in a position to cause heat to be applied whereby the wipers may be heated preparatorv to an initial use.

' In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MATTHIAS BROCK.

Witnesses:

JENNIE P. ANDERSON, HARLOW M. DAVIS. 

